In computing, booting a bootstrapping process starts an operating system (OS) when the user turns on a computer system. A basic input output system (BIOS) refers, in part, to a firmware code run by a computer when first powered on to identify and initialize system component hardware to prepare the computer for the booting. A power on self test (POST) is a diagnostic testing sequence that the BIOS runs to determine if the system component and/or peripheral hardware are working correctly.
The boot process for the OS may take a while due to the POST being performed (e.g., for several minutes) during which each system component hardware gets initialized (e.g., as per desktop management interface (DMI) standard for specification of the BIOS). The time delay may be compounded when the POST is performed every time when the computer is rebooted. For instance, a web server or a database server with a number of internal devices and/or coupled to many peripheral devices may suffer from the slowing down of the OS initiated rebooting of the computer. Furthermore, for a test server, which is frequently rebooted for application, software, OS, hardware, driver, firmware, functionality, and/or other types of testing, there is much time being wasted due to the redundant nature of the POST.
Other features of the present embodiments will be apparent from the accompanying drawings and from the detailed description that follows.